This article offers a critical examination of the Marxist Theory of Dependency (MTD), particularly through the work of R. M. Marini, from the perspective of Marxism. While MTD advances the analysis of the global capitalist system by emphasizing the specificity of center-periphery relations, it also reproduces key conceptual limitations. Drawing on recent contributions and debates, the article highlights how this approach combines a dualist vision of capitalism with functionalist assumptions that undermine its explanatory coherence. Central to this critique is the category of super-exploitation, which leads to inconsistencies regarding the law of value, wage formation, and crisis theory. The analysis contends that the MTD grants primacy to the sphere of circulation and to international value transfers, weakening the labor-based foundations of value theory. As a result, it posits two distinct capitalist systems governed by different internal logics, yet fails to reconcile this with the global operation of the law of value. The article concludes that while the MTD remains a key contribution to dependency thought, it requires further theoretical development to avoid reproducing the same limitations it originally set out to transcend.
Juan Pablo Mateo (Sat,) studied this question.